The Box  A Ziley fic
by ranebowss
Summary: Quick drabble. After their breakup, Zane attempts to get rid of all the things Riley left behind. He makes the mistake of inviting Riley back into his life a bit too soon.


Zane finally finished packing the box, shoving the last of Riley's belongings into the corner. He wanted that box as far away from him as possible. He collapsed on his bed in exhaustion and picked up his phone, sending a quick text to Riley.

"_I have a box of stuff that you left at my house. You can come and get it if you want to"_

" _I'll be there in 10 minutes." _Zane sat up, surprised. The response had come almost instantly. He hadn't expected Riley to respond at all. They hadn't spoken to one another in more than two weeks. Zane ran a hand through his hair nervously. He immediately began to pick the dirty clothes off his floor, stuffing them into the closet. He never had to do this before; Riley was used to the disaster that was his room. But things were different now. He began to rearrange the books on his shelf, trying to give himself something to do. Trying not to think. It was useless though, his mind wandered back to his ex-boyfirend. Zane returned to his bed, lying face down. He already regretted inviting Riley over. That was a bad idea. He wasn't ready to be alone with him. He wasn't ready to face Riley and to be reminded of all that he had lost. Zane groaned, feeling that hollow ache in his chest again. He felt it every time he thought about Riley. Every. Single .Time. What hurt the most was the thought that Riley was happy…without him. Zane saw him at school every day laughing, talking, and fooling around like nothing had happened. They avoided each other, pretending as if the other didn't exist.

Zane's thoughts were interrupted by a sharp knock on his door. He bolted upright, glancing at the clock on his wall. 10 minutes had long gone. Zane hesitated. But there was obviously no turning back now. He cleared his throat. "Come in." he said.

Riley walked in, his eyes immediately darting to the unusually clean floor. Zane saw his eyebrows furrow in surprise "I hope you don't mind, your mom let me in." He hovered by the door, staring at his hands

"No, its not a problem." Zane replied, licking his suddenly dry lips. An awkward silence followed, broken only by the ticking of Zane's clock. He was glad that Riley was refusing to look at him. It gave him the opportunity to study his face. It was blank. Expressionless. It was like they were perfect strangers.

Zane lowered his gaze to the floor, his heart silently breaking all over again. "Your stuff is in that box in the corner," he mumbled miserably. He didn't care if Riley knew how broken he was. Zane was never one to hide his feelings. He heard Riley walk over to the box and quickly shift through its contents. There were so many memories in that box. There were old football magazines that they used to go through when they were bored, the shoes that Riley left at his house for convenience, some old pictures that Zane couldn't bring himself to keep or throwaway, and much more. There was also that Eastern sweater in that box. The one that Zane had never returned. The one that Riley had left behind the first time he had slept over… Zane dropped his hands into his head, trying to shake the memories away. He couldn't do this to himself right now. Not with Riley in the same room.

Zane froze as he felt Riley's body sit down beside him on the bed. _Too close_, he thought. Moments passed but either of them spoke. Zane kept his head buried in his hands, hoping that Riley would just leave and take all the awkwardness and painful memories with him.

"Z, can we please just try and be friends?" Riley sighed, finally breaking the silence.

Zane cringed at the sound of his old nickname. He glanced at Riley who met his eyes briefly. They both looked away. Zane swallowed past the lump in his throat. "Riley how are we supposed to be friends if we can't even look at each other?" he asked quietly. "I don't possibly see how that could work. Although your feelings may have changed, I'm still in love with you and I can't go around pretending like there's nothing between us. "

"My feelings haven't changed, Zane". Riley was staring at him intently, blue eyes piercing. "You know that I still love you too but things just got too…complicated". His voice trailed away feebly.

Zane shook his head, rising from his bed. He walked to the other side of the room, rearranging his books again. He didn't want Riley to see the tears that were forming in the corners of his eyes. He didn't want Riley to know how weak he was. "I'm sorry, but I can't do this right now, Riley. Maybe in the future… but the whole 'friends' thing isn't going to work with us right now. "

"But I miss you." He had said it so quietly. Zane wasn't even sure if he heard him right. He spun around, staring at Riley in disbelief. Sure enough, Riley was blushing madly, avoiding eye contact once more.

"You're not allowed to say that." Zane said. His voice was shaking uncontrollably.

"It's true, though" Riley mumbled.

"I don't care if it's true or not". Zane hissed. He was angry now. His fingers tightly gripped the bookshelf behind him "I can't believe you, Riley. I can't believe you have the audacity to say that to me after what you did to us. "

"I didn't do this because I wanted to!" Riley roared, standing up. His fists clenched at his sides. "Zane you know that I've always loved you but I had no choice!"

"Oh you had a choice. Trust me, you did. But you didn't choose me."

The two boys glared at each other from across the room. Zane could feel himself beginning to crumble. It always started from the inside. From that hollow place in his chest. He turned away from Riley, his face twisting in pain.

"Riley, just go," he managed to whisper.

"Zane can you just hear-"

"Please." It came out as a desperate cry. Zane kept his back to Riley, praying now that he would just leave. He heard Riley's soft steps head towards the door. He lingered there for a few moments before leaving, shutting the door quietly behind him. Zane took a deep breath and ran his hands through his disarrayed hair. _That went well, _he thought sarcastically. He sighed and made his way back to his bed…and then froze. The box of Riley's belongings laid forgotten on the edge of his bed. Zane cursed loudly, dragging it back into the corner of his room. That dam box was turning out to be more trouble than it was worth.


End file.
